


Forgiveness

by RandyQueen



Category: Captain America (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Bucky goes by James in this, M/M, Minor panic attack, Not Captain America: Civil War (Movie) Compliant, Post-Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Tony knows that Bucky killed his parents
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-29
Updated: 2019-06-29
Packaged: 2020-05-29 13:26:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,453
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19401235
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RandyQueen/pseuds/RandyQueen
Summary: Instead of a Civil War between the Avengers, Tony Stark, who knows about his parent's true death, finds James Barnes and helps him settle into 2014.





	Forgiveness

**Author's Note:**

> So, I had this sitting in my drive for the past three years and decided to finally post this. It was originally going to be longer but I lost interest in this idea. Enjoy what I have written!

Ever since he read about James "Bucky" Barnes in the museum he has been getting glimpses of his past. About Sarah and Coney Island. When he walks down the street he always has an urge to look down the alley, waiting for something that he can't remember. He has been on his own for a few months and living in a rundown apartment somewhere in New York.

He got a well-paying job, he changed his appearance. His hair back to its short style he had in the forties and wears long sleeve shirts to hide his metal arm. Most people don't pay attention to him and he likes it. Even at work people tend to steer clear of him.

For some reason, every month on the sixteenth he goes to a graveyard and sets down a single violet Hyacinth on the grave marked Howard & Maria Stark. But something changes in December. He goes to the grave to see a well-dressed man standing there. The man stares at the gravestone.

James is about to turn and leave when the man calls out to him.

"So are you the one who left the Hyacinths every month?" He asks.

James hesitates for a second. "Yeah." His voice is a bit rough from the misuse.

"So why are you asking for forgiveness from someone you don't know?"

James gives a sad chuckle and says, "Who says that I didn't know them?" then immediately wished that he didn't. He remembered why he felt the need to visit.

"You knew them?" The man asks before he had turned to James.

James sucks in a sharp breath when he realizes who he is. Tony Stark stands in front of him, the son of the people he killed.

James starts to back away. He can't face him. Next thing he knew his body was trembling, he couldn't breathe and his heart starts pounding.

"Hey, hey. Calm down. Breath in, out, in, out." Stark said.

It didn't help. Then he started to sprout out something.

"Barnes, James Buchanan; Sergeant; 32557038," He repeated until he calmed down. James took a deep breath and released it.

What he said was familiar. He could remember a blonde man and a man with a red face -Skull?-. He blinked and looked at Stark, who just stared at him. He didn't say anything.

"Sorry," James murmured before turning and running away.

  
James couldn't bear to have another possibility of encountering Stark again so he didn't go back to Howard's grave. He continued his daily routine and doesn't even think about Howard or Stark.

There was a girl and she had a gun on her and other weapons. Her name was Marie and she was the only person that came up to him while he was at work.

She had bounced up to her and said, "Hi. I want to know why you are sitting in the corner and brooding!" and since then she has pretty much followed him. So he pretty much decided to tolerate her.

"So how are you, James?" She asked when he walked into work.

"Fine, Marie. How are you?" James asked. She had grown on him.

"Same as you." She answered as he walked to his corner and stood there. She leaned next to him. "When are you going to change your routine?"

The question didn't really surprise him. He knew that she had followed him. She may be good but she couldn't beat the Winter Soldier at his own game, even if he didn't like being that version of him.

"Because I like normality." It was simple and mostly true. James fears that if he broke the routine the Soldier would take control and try to finish his last mission. He couldn't do that. The blonde on the Helicarrier knew him and to James, the man felt familiar.

Then the door opens and in walks Tony freaking Stark. James tenses and Marie bounces over to Stark.

"Hey, Tony!" She practically shouts.

"Mini Agent! What are you doing in a comic book store?" Stark asks.

"Just hangin' with my friend over there," She said pointing over to James, who had picked up a comic to cover his face.

"Ah, well I am looking for a man he has short hair, is about yay tall," Stark put his hand a little bit above his head, "and I believe his name is James."

"James dear, put down that comic and come over here." Marie was using her stern voice and bad things happened when you didn't listen to her when she used that tone.

"Yes, ma'am." He put the comic down and went over to the duo.

"Follow me," Stark said and walked out the store. James followed.

  
When James followed Stark, he was lead to a car. Stark drove them to a park. James wondered why Stark brought them to a park of all things.

"You don't seem to want to face good ol' Cap yet," Stark said after a quick look at him, "So I thought, 'why not bring him to a park?' and here we are." James shook his head and walked to a bench and sat down. Stark sat next to him.

"So, you know who I am," James said. He didn't want to beat around the bush.

"Yup," Stark said, " It wasn't hard to figure out, with all of the stories that my dad spoke of. 'The Great Captain America' is how he would start and go on and on about Cap and you and the Howling Commandos."

"... He did?" It was whispered.

“Yeah, he told me all about you all,” Stark said, “He never shut up about Cap, though.”

In James’ mind, he didn’t deserve the credit. With the things that Hydra had done to him, made him do. The fact that he killed his friend, and how he made Stark an orphan.

“I don’t deserve it. What I did will never be excused,’ James says.

“You weren’t in control,” Tony says, turning to him.

“I still did it though.”

Tony puts a hand on his shoulder and James flinches. Tony retracts his hand.

“Look, I should be mad and throwing punches in my armor, but I’m not going to. You know why?” James stayed silent.

“Because,” Tony continued, “you weren't in control. HYDRA killed them, not you.”

James was baffled at the bluntness of the statement. “You should hate me, or something,” he said.

“Something like causing Cap to choose between you and the team and then the team splitting up?” Tony offered.

James stared at him weirdly.

“I have an imagination,” Tony shrugged.

“Clearly.”

________________________

Tony kept true to his word. Steve didn't come bursting his door down since that day a few weeks ago. James also appreciates the care packages Tony sends him (he doesn't question how Tony knew where he lived, he’s thinking that it was Marie)

There are at three small packages from Tony sitting on his table. Well, two boxes and an envelope. They sat there unopened.

James decided to open them today. The first box contained a Stark Phone with a charger. On the phone was a sticky note.

Get with the times, old man, it said which got a small smile out of him.

When he powered the phone on, there was text from “You know.”

_If you haven't guessed-_

James tilted his head. He tapped on the screen and symbols appeared on it. There was an envelope with a one on it. When it opened the full text showed.

_If you haven't guessed, it's Tony Stark. If you tap on the question mark, you'll get a brief tutorial on how to work the phone._

James set the phone down and opened the second package. There was a Stark tablet. Also with a sticky note.

 _Perhaps you should have this too,_ it said.

James set it down and grabbed the envelope. It felt a bit heavy. He opened it. The first thing he saw was money. A lot of it. He carefully set it on the table and pulled out the letter. It took a little bit to decipher the handwriting

_Buzz Lightyear,_

_Do you know how long it has been since I hand-wrote a letter? Answer to that is a while. Anyways, I still haven't told Spangles and it’s weirdly easy to do that. Still feels weird. Lying to the national icon, but I made a promise._

_Do not try to return the money, I will just give it back. You'll soon learn that I am very stubborn. If you want, I can check out your arm. Just give me a text and I'll swing by._

_Tony Stark_

Maybe having a tech genius wouldn't hurt to assimilate to the future.


End file.
